Extract/steep IPA recipe - advice?

Brewing Processes
1

I am eagerly awaiting my hops shipment from freshops.com and I threw this IPA recipe together in Hopville/Brewer’s Friend to make use of the Simcoe, Amarillo and Citra hops on their way.

My biggest question is on the steeping grains. I haven’t really played much with many types of grains, and I’m wondering if I need to add/change anything on the grain bill for the steep. I’m shooting for a reddish-copper color (maybe somewhere in the ballpark of a Harpoon IPA, but I’m OK with a little more red). Is there something aside from Carafa-II and Caramel-60 that I should add to get the color I’m looking for. Any other steeping grains you’d recommend in an IPA like this?

Thanks in advance.

HOME BREW RECIPE:
Title: S.A.C.C. IPA

Brew Method: Extract
Style Name: American IPA
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons
Boil Size: 3 gallons

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.062
Final Gravity: 1.017
ABV (standard): 5.83%
IBU (tinseth): 69.43
SRM (morey): 12.36

FERMENTABLES:
7 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Light (91.86%)

STEEPING GRAINS:
0.12 lb - Carafa II (1.57%)
0.5 lb - Caramel / Crystal 60L (6.56%)

HOPS:
0.5 oz - Chinook (AA 13) for 60 min, Type: Pellet, Use: Boil
0.25 oz - Citra (AA 11) for 60 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.25 oz - Amarillo (AA 8.6) for 60 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.25 oz - Simcoe (AA 12.7) for 60 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Citra (AA 11) for 15 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Amarillo (AA 8.6) for 15 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Simcoe (AA 12.7) for 15 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Citra (AA 11) for 10 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Amarillo (AA 8.6) for 10 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Simcoe (AA 12.7) for 10 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Citra (AA 11) for 5 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Amarillo (AA 8.6) for 5 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Simcoe (AA 12.7) for 5 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Citra (AA 11) for 0 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Amarillo (AA 8.6) for 0 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.5 oz - Simcoe (AA 12.7) for 0 min, Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Boil
0.75 oz - Citra (AA 11), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Dry Hop
0.75 oz - Amarillo (AA 8.6), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Dry Hop
0.75 oz - Simcoe (AA 12.7), Type: Leaf/Whole, Use: Dry Hop

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
1 each - Whirlfloc, Time: 15 min, Type: Fining, Use: Boil

YEAST:
Fermentis / Safale - Safale - American Ale Yeast US-05

2

Some 10L° to sweeten it up. And what about some 30 minute additions? That gives some flavor to go along with the bitterness and aroma.

3

Id say what you have there is fine! I would add some plain sugar to dry it up a little bit. Maybe a pound with 15 minutes left in the boil, or 60 if you wanted some additional color.

Also thats ALOT of whole leaf hops. You may want to increase your boil volume if your pot can handle it. That many whole leaf hops are going to soak up a lot of wort.

4

Personally, I wouldn’t recommend the Carafa II.  I don’t think you need the color contribution, nor would I want the roastiness/astringency in the IPA if your steep temps (>170 F) and pH (>6) are off or you steep too long.

In my experience, the extract is always darker than the Lovibond listed on the can.  
If you got it from your LHBS, there’s no telling how long it has been sitting on the shelf (darkens over time.)  
Plus, boiling in the kettle can quickly darken the extract if allowed to sit on the bottom (so dilute and stir frequently)

The crystals L10 through L60 would give a little body/sweetness along with color.  
Caravienne, Caramunich or Carared malts might be good choices if you’re sticking to Extract/steeping only.

Consider using any lightly kilned specialty grains (e.g. victory, munich, vienna) only if you’re moving up to partial mash.

5

+1 on the carafa and the LME adding color.  One option could be to cold steep the carafa(just pour some boiled and chilled water on top of finely ground carafa( a cup is probably good for that small amount) and let it sit overnight(do the night before), then add this liquid in the last 5 min of the boil if you feel you need the added color. This will also give you more control on getting exactly the color you want and not contributing any astringency whatosever.

6

Thanks for the advice so far. My brew kettle is 5 gallons, so if I use Fermcap-S and watch it like a hawk I can try pushing the boil volume to 4 gallons to make room for the hops. I’ll move the 60-minute additions of Simcoe/Amarillo/Citra to 30 minutes to offset some of the increased hop extraction and for flavor purposes. Once I get the exact AA% of the hops I may tweak the 60-minute Chinook down a little to keep me in the BU:GU range I’m shooting for.

As far as using LME is concerned, the LHBS’s in my area have weird hours that don’t really work with my schedule. I usually end up buying my materials online. I’d probably buy LME from one of the big online suppliers if I knew I was going to brew the batch right away, but I generally prefer to stick to DME. Still, I do notice that even the DME darkens noticeably no matter how well and long I stir it.

Thanks for the tips on the Carafa, I’ll take it out. Here’s take 2 for my steeped grain bill.

0.25 lb - Caramel / Crystal 10L (3.13%)
0.5 lb - Caramel / Crystal 60L (6.25%)
0.25 lb - CaraRed (3.13%)

7

Dear Lord!  Your last minute hop additions make me envious!  Good on ya!

8

I just brewed a double ipa recently and I’m dry hopping with simcoe, amarillo, and citra, an oz of each! It’s sitting in secondary right now, glad to see someone else using that combo, I think it’ll be killer for my taste

9

looks awesome to me.  love the hop profile.